„Cities in the desert – Reimagine Dadaab”: Projekt der Klasse für Entwerfen und Städtebau

Die Ausstellung präsentiert das Projekt „Dadaab. Cities in the desert.” der Klasse für Entwerfen und Städtebau der ABK Stuttgart sowie die Publikation „Women of Dadaab” von Prof. Fabienne Hoelzel. Begleitend zu der Ausstellung findet ein Workshop mit Planungsfachleuten statt.

Dadaab. Cities in the desert.

Based on rigorous analyses of the physical and social preconditions—among them conversation with 27 female refugees, compiled in the huge leporello “Women of Dadaab”—we developed four radical and maybe provocative scenarios:

• The climate-resilient city
• The feminist city
• The food-producing city
• The fossil-free city

The four speculative cities deal with key aspects we consider as crucial when thinking about future-oriented cities:

• The impacts of extreme climatic conditions, reinforced by the ecological crisis
• The impacts of extreme inequality, misogyny, and gender-based violence
• The challenge of how to feed the growing global population
• The need to adapt a different lifestyle, using reusable resources

The resulting speculative city fragments should contribute to, and provoke, debates how the Dadaab Refugee Complex could be transformed into liveable cities. The exhibition visit starts by playing “What next Dadaab?”, a decision game we created. As a player, you’re confronted with three game scenarios, reflecting the everyday living conditions of Dadaab’s inhabitants:

• Dust & thirst
• Fear & threat
• Mud & misery

Challenged with different events, which you are invited to solve by choosing one of four answers, you’ll discover which city fragment(s) you may prefer to begin Dadaab’s urban transformation. At the end of the exhibition, you’ll find “The new Dadaab”. Here, we superimpose the four scenarios and invite you to speculate with us about Dadaab’s transformation into cities in desert.

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Baden-Württemberg-Stiftung.